The organizers of Bauma 2010 says the international tradeshow has marked a turnaround in the international construction machinery industry, ushering in the hoped-for change in sentiment. And this was despite the ban on air travel which impacted on the first few days of the fair, according to the Bauma 2010 final report from show organizer Messe München.

Even in a down economy and interruption with air travel because of the Iceland Volcano just before the start of Bauma, Messe München says that “visitor quality was still good despite fewer visitors from overseas as a result of the temporary closure of European airspace.”

Messe München also noted that Bauma 2010 had record exhibition space and record number of exhibitors, with more than 415,000 visitors from more than 200 countries.

“The mood in the industry shows that in Europe the bottom of the cycle is now behind us. Confidence has returned,” Ralf Wezel, Secretary-General of CECE, the Committee for European Construction Equipment, summed up Bauma 2010.

“Of course at the start of the fair the exhibitors felt the lack of many customers from Asia and America – but in the second half of bauma, this improved considerably,” Wezel continued. “Messe München´s crisis management in the days impacted by volcanic ash was outstanding.”

Although the ban on air travel in Europe prevented visitors and in the end around 50 exhibitors from overseas from coming to the fair, the mood at the venue among the approximately 3,150 registered exhibitors from 53 countries was good by the close of the fair. Already by the mid-way point of the fair a number of exhibitors were reporting more sales than they had expected.

“The good old times are coming back: the figures for sales taken at the fair far exceed our expectations. We reckon we will be able to match the volume we took at the record bauma in 2007. This is a clear signal that at Zeppelin-Cat, too, business is moving forward again after the difficult year of 2009,” confirmed Michael Heidemann, managing director of Zeppelin and CEO of Zeppelin Baumaschinen GmbH, Germany.

Michikazu Okada, vice president of Hitachi Sumitomo Heavy Industries Construction Crane Co., Ltd. in Japan, said the show provided “a lot of new business opportunities some of which already resulted in unexpected conclusions of sale.”

The representative survey of exhibitors conducted by TNS Infratest shows that bauma 2010, as the leading world fair, is marking a change in mood following a year of crisis in 2009, and that this change is being felt in many international markets, with few exceptions. Almost half the exhibitors are expecting the economic situation to improve, according to Messe München’s final Bauma report.

Even before the fair started, it was evident that worldwide the sector had high hopes of the leading world fair in Munich: with 555,000-square-meters of space, all fully booked, and 60 percent of the exhibitors coming from outside Germany, the fair registered new all-time highs for the overall number of exhibitors, international participation and space booked. From China, India and Turkey in particular exhibitor numbers were up strongly on the previous event.

“Bauma is the Mecca for construction equipment. Though the volcano shaded Europe it is fascinating to see so many visitors from all over the world here,” said Cuneyt Divris, President of the Imder, Construction Equipment Distributors & Manufacturers Association of Turkey, in a Bauma 2010 final report.

Nevertheless, the general economic situation ahead of Bauma and the unexpected ban on air travel at the start of the fair did impact on the final figures for visitor numbers: Over 415,000 visitors from more than 200 countries attended Bauma 2010.

In comparison to Bauma 2007, this was 17 percent fewer. 65 percent of the visitors came from Germany, 35 percent travelled from countries outside Germany.

The 30th Bauma International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Mining Machines, Construction Vehicles and Construction Equipment, will take place as planned in three years April 15-21 2013, in Munich.